New Delhi -- Sri Lanka's Parliament has initiated impeachment proceedings against the nation's chief justice, in what critics have complained is an effort by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to curb the independence of the judiciary and consolidate his power.

The Parliament will now form a select committee to examine the 14 charges made public Tuesday against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake of the Supreme Court. She is charged with misusing her position and failing to adequately declare her assets, among other accusations, in a case her supporters say is politically motivated.

The impeachment proceedings come amid rising tensions between the Supreme Court and Rajapaksa's administration. Last week, the Supreme Court blocked efforts by the president to centralize certain powers at the expense of elected provincial councils. The government's proposed change would have meant that one of the president's brothers, a current Cabinet minister, controlled more than $600 million in development money, according to one analysis.

For more than a year, opposition parties and others have complained that Rajapaksa's government has broadened its powers while cracking down on dissent and members of civil society, including journalists and lawyers.